| ... is a quote from Kirk Dooly's Book of Texas Best (Taylor Publishing - 1988) referring to the song Texas Trilogy written by Texas Poet Laureate Steven Fromholz. |
Written, and first performed by Steven Fromholz in 1967, TheTexas Trilogy has stood the test of time. Much of his work is
poetry set to music and in April, 2007 he was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Texas Trilogy is a complex tune about growing
up/life in rural, small-town Texas, and captures the essence not only of that moment but pretty much as it still stands today.
The Trilogy was first recorded by Steven himself on the album Frummox in 1969. Long-time buddy Lyle Lovett performed the
tune on his CD Step Inside This House. A song with deep roots in Texas' history, it is often used academically as an example of
authentic Texas poetry. Fromholz' book "Texas Trilogy" (the famous song in poetry form) has been released by Esteban
Publishing and is an exquisitely designed, lettered, collector's edition. (See "Book Store" for more information.)
"When The Sun Hits the Land," co-authored by Steven Fromholz and sister, Angela Blair, is soon to be released by Esteban
Publishing. The book is the saga of the early Greer Family in Kopperl, Bosque County, Texas, upon which the song "Texas
Trilogy" was actually based. The authors have fictionalized some of this early (1865 - 1925) Texas ranching tale but the family
history is factual and the reader will recognize the adventure wending it's way through the haunting words of Fromholz'
original song. The publisher is heralding the book as being in the "Lonesome Dove" genre, but considers it's main
characters, Willie and Earl, more reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
Lots of visitors have made the trip to Kopperl, Bosque County, Texas, just to see where the song originated. If you want to
take a look at Kopperl, Texas we've provided a map below. Trust us -- you won't get lost once you get there -- and don't blink,
you could miss it entirely. That said, it'll always be "home long ago" for three little kids... where "Granny" lived.
poetry set to music and in April, 2007 he was named Poet Laureate of Texas. Texas Trilogy is a complex tune about growing
up/life in rural, small-town Texas, and captures the essence not only of that moment but pretty much as it still stands today.
The Trilogy was first recorded by Steven himself on the album Frummox in 1969. Long-time buddy Lyle Lovett performed the
tune on his CD Step Inside This House. A song with deep roots in Texas' history, it is often used academically as an example of
authentic Texas poetry. Fromholz' book "Texas Trilogy" (the famous song in poetry form) has been released by Esteban
Publishing and is an exquisitely designed, lettered, collector's edition. (See "Book Store" for more information.)
"When The Sun Hits the Land," co-authored by Steven Fromholz and sister, Angela Blair, is soon to be released by Esteban
Publishing. The book is the saga of the early Greer Family in Kopperl, Bosque County, Texas, upon which the song "Texas
Trilogy" was actually based. The authors have fictionalized some of this early (1865 - 1925) Texas ranching tale but the family
history is factual and the reader will recognize the adventure wending it's way through the haunting words of Fromholz'
original song. The publisher is heralding the book as being in the "Lonesome Dove" genre, but considers it's main
characters, Willie and Earl, more reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
Lots of visitors have made the trip to Kopperl, Bosque County, Texas, just to see where the song originated. If you want to
take a look at Kopperl, Texas we've provided a map below. Trust us -- you won't get lost once you get there -- and don't blink,
you could miss it entirely. That said, it'll always be "home long ago" for three little kids... where "Granny" lived.
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AUSTIN CHRONICLE - (by Louis Black)
In my first days in Austin, knowing almost no one, I used to go hang out in the store, checking the records, voraciously reading all the material on the cover while
eavesdropping on the ongoing conversation. One day I listened to Cooper enthusiastically recommend an album to a regular customer as just his "kind of
music" and "a rare shipment from the warehouse." Later, I bought a copy of Here to There by Frummox and took it home.
The first listen really knocks you out, especially if you have no expectations. It's the first song on the second side that takes you down: "Six o'clock silence of a
new day beginning/Is heard in the small Texas town/Like a signal from nowhere the people who live there/Are up and moving around."
The Texas Trilogy I've heard hundreds of times since -- but, I'll always remember that first time. Steven Fromholz wrote that song. Frummox had broken up by the
time I got to Austin, but I saw Fromholz live many times over the next years. A great performer, Fromholz always struck me as one of the most talented -- if not
ambitious -- of the progressive country bunch. A brilliant songwriter ("I'd Have to Be Crazy," "Dear Darcy," "Bears"), Fromholz has led a life that is rich and worthy
of study. A songwriter, performer, storyteller, actor, white-water rafting guide, Fromholz has spent a lifetime doing it his way.
In my first days in Austin, knowing almost no one, I used to go hang out in the store, checking the records, voraciously reading all the material on the cover while
eavesdropping on the ongoing conversation. One day I listened to Cooper enthusiastically recommend an album to a regular customer as just his "kind of
music" and "a rare shipment from the warehouse." Later, I bought a copy of Here to There by Frummox and took it home.
The first listen really knocks you out, especially if you have no expectations. It's the first song on the second side that takes you down: "Six o'clock silence of a
new day beginning/Is heard in the small Texas town/Like a signal from nowhere the people who live there/Are up and moving around."
The Texas Trilogy I've heard hundreds of times since -- but, I'll always remember that first time. Steven Fromholz wrote that song. Frummox had broken up by the
time I got to Austin, but I saw Fromholz live many times over the next years. A great performer, Fromholz always struck me as one of the most talented -- if not
ambitious -- of the progressive country bunch. A brilliant songwriter ("I'd Have to Be Crazy," "Dear Darcy," "Bears"), Fromholz has led a life that is rich and worthy
of study. A songwriter, performer, storyteller, actor, white-water rafting guide, Fromholz has spent a lifetime doing it his way.
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN - (by Arnold Garcia, Jr., Editorial Page Editor)
Meanwhile, the rural areas of the state continued to watch young people take their educations and their talents with them, confirming repeatedly the truth in a
Steven Fromholz lyric about how that ol' train doesn't stop in Kopperl anymore. The circumstances may make for great country music, but it also makes for a
lousy future for Kopperl and other places like it.
Meanwhile, the rural areas of the state continued to watch young people take their educations and their talents with them, confirming repeatedly the truth in a
Steven Fromholz lyric about how that ol' train doesn't stop in Kopperl anymore. The circumstances may make for great country music, but it also makes for a
lousy future for Kopperl and other places like it.
REVIEW ON "STEP INSIDE THIS HOUSE", LYLE LOVETT, ARTIST - (by John Metzger)
While there isn't a weak point on Step Inside This House, perhaps the greatest highlight is Lovett's rendition of Fromholz's Texas Trilogy. The song is an epic
tale of the effect of time and progress on a small Texas town.
While there isn't a weak point on Step Inside This House, perhaps the greatest highlight is Lovett's rendition of Fromholz's Texas Trilogy. The song is an epic
tale of the effect of time and progress on a small Texas town.
AUSTIN CHRONICLE - (By Lee Nichols)
TexasTrilogy, comprised of "Daybreak," "Train Ride," and "Bosque County Romance," isn't merely Fromholz's most ambitious work, it's also his most
enduring. Taking the seemingly mundane world of small-town farm life, the song elevates it into an epic. It's a tale filled with the drama and heartbreak of just
living life, enough so that Fromholz would later co-author a play based upon it
TexasTrilogy, comprised of "Daybreak," "Train Ride," and "Bosque County Romance," isn't merely Fromholz's most ambitious work, it's also his most
enduring. Taking the seemingly mundane world of small-town farm life, the song elevates it into an epic. It's a tale filled with the drama and heartbreak of just
living life, enough so that Fromholz would later co-author a play based upon it
FT. WORTH WEEKLY - (by Jeff Prince)
Texas has spawned tons of musicians, including some of the most brilliant in modern history — Bob Wills, Buddy Holly, Freddie King, Willie Nelson, Stevie
Ray Vaughan, Waylon Jennings, and so on. Nobody loves Texas more than Texans. The state has inspired more songs than probably any other in the union.
So it’s no small feat to have penned what many people consider the best song ever written about the Lone Star State. Texas Trilogy is poetic, elegant, and
dazzling in scope while remaining as simple as the Kopperl farmers who inspired Fromholz to write it in 1967.
Texas has spawned tons of musicians, including some of the most brilliant in modern history — Bob Wills, Buddy Holly, Freddie King, Willie Nelson, Stevie
Ray Vaughan, Waylon Jennings, and so on. Nobody loves Texas more than Texans. The state has inspired more songs than probably any other in the union.
So it’s no small feat to have penned what many people consider the best song ever written about the Lone Star State. Texas Trilogy is poetic, elegant, and
dazzling in scope while remaining as simple as the Kopperl farmers who inspired Fromholz to write it in 1967.
| From The Handbook of Texas Online copyrighted by The Texas State Historical Association KOPPERL, TEXAS Kopperl, near Farm Road 56 fourteen miles northeast of Meridian and forty miles northwest of Waco in northeastern Bosque County, was founded in 1881 and named in honor of Moritz Kopperl, a Galveston banker and Santa Fe Railroad director. The community was on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. In 1953, after the construction of the Lake Whitney dam, a levee was erected around the town to protect citizens from possible flooding. In 1904 the estimated population was 329. The population in 1974 was 225. Kopperl was the subject of a song by Steven Fromholz, The Texas Trilogy. In 1990 the population was still reported as 225 |
Photo by Luca Vitali, Italy
Texas Trilogy"...the best song ever written about Texas..."